- Some brands that have worked with YouTube star David Dobrik are severing ties.
- Brands like EA, Dollar Shave Club and Hello Fresh confirmed that they were no longer working with Dobrik.
- These confirmations follow a recent investigation into a former YouTube Vlog Squad member from Dobrik.
- See more stories on the Insider business page.
Some brands are severing ties with YouTube star David Dobrik after an Insider investigation into a former member of his group of creators Vlog Squad.
Brands like Dollar Shave Club, DoorDash, EA Sports and Hello Fresh said on Friday that they were no longer working with Dobrik, who has more than 18 million subscribers on YouTube.
These decisions made by some of the top brands in influencer marketing come after a woman on Dobrik’s YouTube channel said she was raped by a member of the Vlog Squad in 2018 the night they filmed a group sex video.
In an investigation published by Insider on Tuesday, the woman said she received alcohol from members of the Vlog Squad and was drunk to the point of passing out. So, she said, she was involved in group sex with Dominykas Zeglaitis (known as Durte Dom online) that she couldn’t consent to. Dobrik, she said, filmed her and her friends overnight for a video on YouTube.
Dobrik posted an apology video on Tuesday after Insider published his investigation, in which he said consent was “super, super important” for him.
Insider contacted 33 brands that worked with Dobrik recently about the status of their partnerships with him and their future plans. (This was not a comprehensive list of all the brands that Dobrik worked with during his influential career.)
These six brands confirmed to Insider that they were no longer working with Dobrik:
- Hello Fresh: “We can confirm that we are no longer working with David Dobrik or any member of the Vlog Squad and we have no plans to work with them again in the future.”
- EA Sports: “We are aware of the charges against David Dobrik. We have not worked with David since April 2020 and we can confirm that we are not working with him or have any plans to do so in the future. We expect any influencers or talented celebrities we work with to behave in a way consistent with EA values and policies. “
- Dollar Shave Club: “The actions and comments made by David Dobrik, as well as some of his team members are very serious and do not align with the DSC’s values. Sexual assault and hateful language of any kind are unacceptable in any environment. We make the decision to end our relationship and cancel all planned activities. “
- DoorDash: “DoorDash strongly condemns the behavior of Vlog Squad members, and we have ended our sponsorship of David Dobrik’s ‘Views’ podcast. This horrible misconduct is inconsistent with DoorDash’s values and does not represent the communities we strive to create. Our thoughts are with all those impacted. “
- General Mills: “We are not working with him nor are we going to get involved with him in the future.”
- Audible: “At the moment, we are not working with David Dobrik or the Vlog Squad.”
Brand partnerships have become the main source of revenue for many content creators and losing businesses can have a strong impact on Dobrik’s general influencer business, which covers platforms such as YouTube, Instagram (14 million followers) and TikTok (26 million followers) fans).
Forbes estimated that Dobrik’s influencer business made $ 15.5 million from June 2019 to June 2020 (based on pre-tax figures).
Some other brands contacted by Insider said they were reviewing their relationship with him or declined to comment.
Ticketing service SeatGeek, known for its viral partnership with Dobrik, said it was “reviewing internally how we want to proceed”.
A spokesman for Nickelodeon said the network “had no comments” about his relationship with Dobrik. Dobrik was a judge on Nickelodeon’s show “America’s Most Musical Family”, featured “The Stars of SpongeBob Fan Favorites Special” and starred as a guest on “#KidsTogether: The Nickelodeon Town Hall” and “Unfiltered”. He also presented awards at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards recently, in March 2021, and won two Kids Choice Awards.
Facebook Messenger, which previously hired Dobrik to promote its app, said: “We don’t have an official statement to release at this time.”
Some other brands that worked with Dobrik did not respond to Insider’s requests for comment. They include Chipotle, Current, Fanjoy, Bumble, MSCHF, Honey and G Fuel.
YouTube also did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.
In addition to Dobrik’s career as an influencer, he is also a co-founder of the photo sharing app Dispo, which has been attracting attention since its relaunch in February. The app was valued at $ 200 million by investors, Axios reported in February. Dispo investors include Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, his Seven Seven Six fund and Spark Capital.
Ohanian, Spark Capital and a Dispo representative did not respond to Insider’s requests for comment.